


Hands

by Straccia_Tella



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, I REALLY need sleep, I think she and Keith's dad did find out about the blue lion but decided to keep quiet about it, Krolia's POV for the most part
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-11
Updated: 2018-03-11
Packaged: 2019-03-29 21:15:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13935573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Straccia_Tella/pseuds/Straccia_Tella
Summary: She never knew something like this could bring her so much joy. That one small hand would be enough to break her apart.





	Hands

  When she first arrived on Earth she was scared and alone, far away from anything that was familiar to her. It took her a couple of cycles to adjust, but at night when she thought her human companion didn’t notice, she’d walk outside and stare at the stars wondering where or if she’d be able to find her home. While the Blade wasn’t exactly what others would call a home, it was the only thing Krolia knew, and the only place she thought she felt safe. Staring up at the night sky, she ruminated over when she’d be able to return until the cold air nipped at her skin and she retreated back inside the rickety shack.

  More months passed, and Krolia was becoming increasingly fond of Earth. As far as she knew, it was a planet left untouched by the Galra, and as peaceful as any other planet she’d seen. Even James, who she found to be a bit frustrating at first made for good company when they were checking the odd readings around the area and he tried to avoid asking her too many personal questions. Had there not be a war looming over their heads, or her ties to a secret rebel society, she would have considered living on Earth, but she tried to ignore those dreams. Something like that would never be possible. Even though the humans on this planet had never seen a Galra, she just knew that she wouldn’t be welcomed here.

  She even began to wonder whether or not James actually enjoyed her presence as much as she did his, which she desperately tried to lock away. It was odd enough that a human and a Galra were working together, and as much as she would like to entertain the notion of them becoming closer, she forced herself to think only of the mission. She couldn’t let her emotions get the best of her and forget the Blade’s teachings just because she felt a connection with James.

  When that minor thought wasn’t bothering her, the strange energy that they found certainly proved to be a decent distraction. The two of them spent some sleepless nights trying to figure out the exact location and what the energy’s source was, only to end in them crashing on the bed in exhaustion, too tired to even change out of their clothes. Those were considered one of theirmore productive days next to repairing her ship. The day they finally managed to track the location of the odd energy readings, Krolia felt her heart sink. If she wasn’t reading the carvings wrong the Blue Lion of Voltron was residing in these mountains, and if the Empire were to find out about this, Earth would no longer be safe.

  The two of them agreed to bury their tracks and any other physical evidence of what they found, but the thought of Earth being destroyed haunted her.

  While they still visited the cave to scrutinize the carvings and Krolia logged in the data, the unease in her mind began to weigh her down. She couldn’t enjoy James’ excited ramblings as he tried to decipher what he could about the carvings, and neither could she enthusiastically fill him in on the information that she had. The unease started as a nagging voice in the back of her head, until it turned into a reoccurring nightmare of the Empire invading Earth, destroying everything in its path for the lion while she was powerless to do anything. This incentivized her to log the data she collected into her ship, and repair it at an even faster rate, but when she ran into problems her growing frustration overrode her slipping sanity. At one point, she nearly slashed her ship with her blade and James left her to her thoughts for what he said was about six hours.

  One night after waking up from that particular nightmare, her chest tight and her breaths coming out in panicked huffs James stroked her head until she drifted back off to sleep. Even though his hands were quite calloused the warmth that exuded from them comforted her, and it was then she decided that she liked this human.

  She wanted to be with him.

  Kolivan had always told them to always put the mission over their emotions, but for one of the first times in her life she _wanted_ to be vulnerable. She wanted to let her guard down and know that there would be someone there for her. Krolia curled up closer to James' body, taking in his familiar scent, and felt he entire body relax. She wished they could stay this way for just a little longer.

* * *

 

  Finding out she was pregnant both excited and frightened her. Would she be able to handle her child? What would they do if he looked like her? James tried to dissuade her worries, but Krolia blamed the hormones running through her body for messing up her usually stoic attitude. The times when she wasn’t panicking over her child’s well-being, James would occasionally place a hand on her stomach, looking stunned when he felt a kick. Krolia enjoyed watching his reactions, and his touch made her believe that everything was going to be okay.

  The months felt like they dragged on forever, and when the day finally came, she had to admit that _nothing_ she had ever experienced could match the pain the childbirth. She thought she was tolerant to pain with all of the Blades training, but this was something else entirely. There was blood everywhere, and even though she was breathing as she was supposed to, screaming was something she couldn’t stop with each push. She felt her nails ripping into the bed-sheets, beads of sweat poured down her forehead with each passing dobosh and all James could do was talk her through each cycle and gently dab her forehead with a damp towel. James had to help her through the hours of labor since finding a human doctor would have been an atrocious idea for both of them, which lead to James having to do research through books and spending as much time as she did worriedly sifting through enough information to make his head spin.

  Once the whole ordeal was over, Krolia felt like her entire body had been removed of all of its bones. She could hear faint cries coming from somewhere in the shack, but she had no energy to lift her head up to investigate the noise. She spent the next few doboshes trying to relax by looking up at the ceiling and regulate her breathing. Footsteps approached her, breaking her thoughts and she saw James holding a bundle of cloth in his arms.

  “You did well,” he said, looking just as breathless as she did, but wore a huge grin on his face. “Wanna say ‘hi’ to Keith?”

  Krolia nodded weakly as he slowly placed the bundle next to her head and she looked at her son for the first time. She wasn't sure what kind of Galran names would be acceptable, and tried to have James name the child by himself. They both ended up deciding on 'Keith', which entailed some teasing from James, as he asked whether or not it was a Galran custom to have their child's name be similar to their parents. She liked the name 'Keith', and didn't care what others thought of her child.

  The Galra woman watched as the cloth moved, her son's tiny body attempting to free itself form its restraints and seek her out, even when his eyes were still shut tight. She felt an incredible wave of warmth wash over her as more tears poured from her eyes. As she slowly extended a finger out to touch Keith, he had wiggled one of his arms out of the blanket and wrapped his tiny hand around her finger.

  “… His hand is so warm.”

  Krolia drew him closer, touching her forehead to his, looking at his matted black hair and shut-eyes. She never knew something like this could bring her so much joy. That one small hand would be enough to break her apart. In that moment, she completely forgot about the Blade's teachings, or the fact that there was a war going on. All that mattered to her, was this small creature in front of her that she knew she'd lay her life down for.

  “Do you think he looks like you?” Krolia asked her lover.

  “I was kinda hoping he wouldn’t inherit my genes,” James responded, sitting down next to her with a heavy sigh, but smiled down at the two as he stroked Krolia’s hair. “Somehow, I think he’ll definitely take after you.”

  She wanted this moment to last forever. All she wanted in this world was the shack they shared, her husband and her child right at her side. She would ingrain this memory into her mind, and it would be this memory that she would regret leaving behind.

**Author's Note:**

> I named Keith's dad James because a post on Tumblr pointed out how he looked similar an old Voltron character named James Hawkins. I kinda had fun writing about Krolia, and I'm just jumping onto the bandwagon for her right now tbh


End file.
